SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Congressman Josh Harder is calling for a federal investigation into the recent high gas prices in California. It comes as drivers are asking “what's the deal?”
"I gotta fill up my tank and I really don't want to because the gas prices are outrageous. It doesn't make any sense. What's going on?" said Carolyn Hairston.
According to GasBuddy, four refineries in Southern California are either down for unexpected outages or maintenance.
"That's putting pressure on other markets, including Northern California because refineries in Northern California are now sending some of the gasoline that they're producing down to Southern California,” said Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy's lead petroleum analyst. “In light of the higher prices there. So that's starting to have an impact on supply in Northern California."
Now the California Energy Commission is saying an “unusual transaction” took place Sept. 15 on the California spot market, causing case prices to jump nearly 50 cents a gallon.
"What the state has done is admirable. They did the investigation which discovered this market manipulation, but now there needs to be consequences,” said Harder.
He’s calling for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate why gas prices are so high and to “do their job, and to make sure that they hold bad actors to account."
Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state will “continue using our new tools to hold Big Oil accountable and shine a light on these operations."
Sept. 15 is also the same day California announced a lawsuit against big oil companies, claiming they have been deceiving people about their contributions to climate change.
Attorney General Rob Bonta said then that he and Newsom want to focus on “big oil shirking its responsibility and profiting to the tune of billions of dollars while pushing the cost and burden of extreme weather and climate change onto people."
In response to the lawsuit at the time Ryan Meyers, general counsel of the American Petroleum Institute, told ABC10 "This ongoing, coordinated campaign to wage meritless, politicized lawsuits against a foundational American industry and its workers is nothing more than a distraction from important national conversations and an enormous waste of California taxpayer resources. Climate policy is for Congress to debate and decide, not the court system."
WATCH MORE: Why California's gas prices are so high
